Bodyweight Do push ups give you breast-like pecs?

[Boris Bachmann]

Beyond Bodybuilding is a great, great book. Period. And Pavel isn't alone in the opinion that a lot of bench pressing gives you moobs - Vince Gironda (probably most notably) felt the same. You go crazy on bench press and dips, and ignore everything else, then yeah, your appearance is probably not going to be as aesthetic as you'd like.

AND, it wasn't that long ago that "How much ya bench?" was THE question everyone asked when they found out you lifted weights of any kind. Things in the strength and fitness communities have, thank God, changed quite a bit since then, but it used to be that almost every gym had more bench press racks than squat racks and power cages combined.

So, I don't think it's crazy that Pavel took the stance he did, and felt justified in a little hyperbole on the matter. Idk, just my $.02

 

[watchnerd]

You go crazy on bench press and dips, and ignore everything else, then yeah, your appearance is probably not going to be as aesthetic as you'd like.

If you changed this from "bench press" to "overhead press", that would be me.

Resulting in recent pec-shaming.

These bros were talking about how they were experimenting with doing IM injections directly into their pecs.

I said, "I don't think I could pull that off."

Bro #1 replied, "Ha, yeah, you weightlifters do all your IM into your delts or quads, amiright?"

Bro #2, "He could do his glutes or traps, too."

Me, "Nah, man -- we just do it right into our spinal erectors, bro."

 

[Steve Freides]

IM injections

OK, what are these?

-S-

 

[watchnerd]

OK, what are these?

-S-

Intra-muscular injections.

Of what, in their particular case, I don't know.

I didn't hear that part of the conversation.

But to do an IM injection directly into your pecs, you have to have a lot of pec mass.

 

[North Coast Miller]

As long as I can do a visible pec dance under my shirt they’re big enough.

“Hey lady, my eyes are up here!”

 

[Hung]

For me it's not the bench press and the breast-like muscle that I worry. More about huge belly from all the bracing of deadlift, squat, good-morning and others heavy compound. It makes my belly huge even thought I'm not that fat! Anyone with the similar experience?

 

[watchnerd]

For me it's not the bench press and the breast-like muscle that I worry. More about huge belly from all the bracing of deadlift, squat, good-morning and others heavy compound. It makes my belly huge even thought I'm not that fat! Anyone with the similar experience?

It makes my torso wider at the waist, for sure.

But not thicker front-to-back.

 

[Boris Bachmann]

For me it's not the bench press and the breast-like muscle that I worry. More about huge belly from all the bracing of deadlift, squat, good-morning and others heavy compound. It makes my belly huge even thought I'm not that fat! Anyone with the similar experience?

Did you gain weight?

Heavy lifting certainly is not conducive to having a wasp-waist, but you see all kinds among elite Olympic weightlifters. Some of the 'gut' is due to conditioning and diet.

 

[Steve Freides]

For me it's not the bench press and the breast-like muscle that I worry. More about huge belly from all the bracing of deadlift, squat, good-morning and others heavy compound. It makes my belly huge even thought I'm not that fat! Anyone with the similar experience?

No, no such experience at all.

Perhaps if you're used to pushing out against a belt, but belt-less powerlifting will have the opposite effect on most people - certainly has worked that way for me. No science claimed, but think about it - are you bracing _against_ the belt, which means pushing out into it, or are you bracing by resisting your midsection getting bigger when lifting without a belt.

-S-

 

[watchnerd]

Heavy lifting certainly is not conducive to having a wasp-waist

I read an article about a female competitive Crossfitter who switched to physique / figure / bikini and the first thing she was told by her physique coach was to stop lifting heavy.

Having a tree-trunk waist was great for heavy loads, not for bikini.

 

[Hung]

I read an article about a female competitive Crossfitter who switched to physique / figure / bikini and the first thing she was told by her physique coach was to top lifting heavy.

Having a tree-trunk waist was great for heavy loads, not for bikini

Physique/bb also does some kind of vacuum training

 

[Hung]

No, no such experience at all.

Perhaps if you're used to pushing out against a belt, but belt-less powerlifting will have the opposite effect on most people - certainly has worked that way for me. No science claimed, but think about it - are you bracing _against_ the belt, which means pushing out into it

-S-

I did lifting without belt.
I don't really understand this part:

are you bracing by resisting your midsection getting bigger when lifting without a belt

Do you mean without the belt and without bracing, the midsection tends to be balloon up?

 

[watchnerd]

Physique/bb also does some kind of vacuum training

Yes, but that doesn't affect width.

 

[Hung]

Did you gain weight?

Yeah

 

[Hung]

Yes, but that doesn't affect width.

Some bb claims that does

 

[Boris Bachmann]

Yeah

WELL... *waves hands around wildly*

 

[watchnerd]

Some bb claims that does

How?

The "vacuum pose" primarily involves the transverse-abdominis -- which is also used in bracing.

I could see it holding your gut in, but I don't see how making it stronger would make your waist skinnier -- if anything if it gets too big, it would cause the same tree-trunk problem.

 

[Hung]

WELL... *waves hands around wildly*

Sigh...nvm

 

[Boris Bachmann]

Sigh...nvm

Not trying to be a-hole about it - it's just if you gain 10lb, chances are pretty good some of that is going to be on the belly. And muscle around the midsection, while great for lifting heavier weights, is going to add size to your gut.

So, what's the solution? I guess either don't lift heavy, or pay extra attention to diet and be as whippet thin and lean as you can to offset it as much as possible.

 

[watchnerd]

Not trying to be a-hole about it - it's just if you gain 10lb, chances are pretty good some of that is going to be on the belly. And muscle around the midsection, while great for lifting heavier weights, is going to add size to your gut.

So, what's the solution? I guess either don't lift heavy, or pay extra attention to diet and be as whippet thin and lean as you can to offset it as much as possible.

That power belly